I was forced to make the upgrade to “bomb-proof” u-joints because I grenaded my stock 297-x u-joints on one of my snow trips this year.

Of course I could have found a complete axle shaft at the junk yard for $25 or so and would have been ready for round two, but I’m the type of person who only wants to fix something once. When I broke my first birfield in my 1982 Toyota pickup, I decided to swap a Dana 44 in. And now by breaking the Dana 44 u-joint, I wanted to upgrade to Warn shafts and a high strength u-joint.

In the world of U-Joints, there are really only 3 options...

The first and most known option is the standard Spicer 297-X / 760-X u-joint option with the advantage being that they are cheap, usually around $10-$20, and they are available at most auto parts stores.

Another option are the CTM Racing U-Joints which have quickly won the respect of the off-road community for their durability and availability. Another reason for CTM’s success is the fact that they have captured the market and have been the sole manufacturer of high strength u-joints. These u-joints run about $185 a piece and can be ordered online or found at one of the many distributors in your area.

The final and newest option is the OX joint. The company has been trying to launch this product for a few years now, and have finally started to develop their momentum into the 4-wheel drive community. The price is significantly cheaper than the CTM u-joints, averaging $140 a piece. By purchasing the OX u-joints you are saving almost $100 dollars which can make or break your rig budget at times. The question is whether they can hold up to the abuse that the CTM’s have. There is talk that the OX u-joint is stronger than the CTM when machine tested, but only time will tell if they hold up on the trails.

I decided to try the OX u-joints because they are new. I like to be the first person to try the newest digital camera, newest DVD player, fastest computer, newest 4:1 kit etc… The product or device can be the worst design or the biggest piece of crap ever, and I will continue to take my chances.

These u-joints are very interesting when you take them apart. The cage is very light, and the trunions are very heavy. The caps come off along with the retainer cup, which keeps the trunions from coming out of the body.

Step One

Place the body inside the axle shaft ears and pressing the trunions into the body. I greased the trunions and along with the bushings that are pressed into the cage, so it went in smoothly and so I did not damage the bushings. If you go to far into the cage, the retainer cup will not seat correctly and you will have to use an extractor to pull the trunion out a little in alignment with the retainer. I was lucky and did not have to use the extractor, but I also remembered how far they sat inside the cage and how far the retainer cap and seal cap went down until they were tight and correctly seated.

Step Two

Once I finished, I filled the cavity with grease while it was open and I applied some medium strength lock-tight to the cap and tightened the cap. It was a little tricky to fit the cap on, as there isn’t very much room. It takes a few tries, but insert the bottom edge first at an angle. Install the other cap with lock-tight and use a grease gun to fill the cage up with grease once it is all closed up and tight.

I had to grind down the corners of the trunions, because they protrude through the ears of the axle shafts and will not fit through the knuckle. After some quick research, I found that this is very common and you are not structurally damaging the u-joint by doing this.

Only time will tell if these will hold up to the abuse of 38.5 TSL-SX’s and a 200:1 crawl ratio. Updates will follow..

UPDATE 8/18/04: I have found two documented cases of carnage, but as far as I am concerned that is one heck of a good record. Both of the following instances were posted up at www.Pirate4x4.com. 44 front with warn outers and short side, dynatrac long side (the one that broke). engine: Almighty 4.0 H.O. inline six cylinder axle-snapper 5000 model Trans: AX-15 Transfer case: dana 300 with 4:1 Axles have 5.38 gears. And an extremely heavy right foot.   Guy that broke it runs 38's. He was running a OX in one side and a CTM in the other to see which would break first. Well he broke both. And ox first the ripped a ear off the CTM. The pins on the OX looked fine but one was missng so I don't know if it was damged or not.